


a Look into roots

by orphan_account



Series: Harry Ryuzaki Potter's life series [1]
Category: Death Note, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Child Abuse, Gen, Harry Potter is Not the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter was Adopted by Other(s), Harry is L, No Sex, Pre-Series, Wammy House, young L lawliet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-23
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-20 01:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5987365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where L's real name is Harry Ryuzaki Potter.</p><p>Harry Potter was left on the Dursleys' doorstep at age 1. Three years later, the starving, scared boy decided to run away and met Quillsh Wammy, a famous inventor who also happened to host quite a few orphanages. From this moment, Harry's life changed for forever. For the first time he can remember, he has a parent figure, his own room, and friends.<br/>Follows the first year of Harry/L in Wammy's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Saviour

**Author's Note:**

> Most major changes in the plot:  
> L is born in 1980 instead of 1979 or 1982  
> Harry's/L's appearance has been changed  
> Neville is known as the Boy Who Lived  
> Little Whinging is located near Winchester, in Eastern Surrey  
> Durseys treat Harry a LOT worse than in canon  
> Timeline: The year during the first chapter is 1983
> 
> There are more changes that do not go with canon, but I mentioned the major ones here. Just note that the canon will be changed hella lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This AU has been in my mind for a long time, but never actually got down to writing it.
> 
> I would like to thank my beta-reader and a friend, DreamyCloud1. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I WOULD DO WITHOUT HER!

If one would have taken a look into the Dursleys' backyard this autumn evening, they would have seen a small boy about 4 years of age. The boy was very skinny and his black hair contrasted with his dead pale skin. His eyes were odd: One of them was a dark, shining green but the other was dark gray, with a hint of blue in it. Both of the eyes looked black from far away, and the difference in colour was quite hard to notice.  
The boy was wearing a sweater that was all the way to his knees, and his pants could be barely seen, save for a few holes here and there. The boy was barefoot, even though pair of sandals lay nearby.

 

Even though he was referred as "freak" or "nasty boy" by most of the people he met the boy somehow always remembered, he was Harry.  
That evening, Harry was weeding his aunt's garden. He did not hate this job, but it was certainly not his favourite. Harry preferred watering the flowers or doing the laundry. He dreamed that maybe, if he was good enough, if he made chores nicely enough, then maybe his uncle and aunt would be nicer to him.  
Suddenly, he heard a creak from behind him. As Harry snapped his body around, he realised something.  
The fence was wide open, unlocked.  
His aunt always locked the fence and door to prevent Harry from getting out and escaping, due to him "shaming this family should anyone see him".  
But Harry had been always curious about the world outside. He decided that he would just have to stay quiet and run away, so nobody would ever find him.

Carefully, Harry took one step closer.  
Nobody would notice, right? Harry knew he was a failure.  
Nobody will notice if a failure will be missing.

And with that thought, Harry ran out into the evening, thanking his luck that nobody seemed to see.  
At that time, usually Uncle Vernon and Dudley would be watching telly, and Aunt Petunia would be chatting on the phone... Yes, nobody will notice if Freak is gone.  
Lots of time later, it was dark. Harry was still walking, even as the raindrops started falling: pouring even, Harry did not stop.  
He did not want to be hit ever again.  
But Harry was tired and hungry for he had not gotten a bite for over a day, and even though he was used to it, he certainly was not used to walking for hours. But it was raining, so Harry could not sit down.  
Suddenly, lost in his own thoughts, he bumped into something large and very tall.  
As Harry looked up, he saw far above a face of an old man. He was wearing a nice coat, and he had glasses. The man was holding an umbrella, and so, Harry suddenly discovered that rain was unable to reach him now.  
"What would a young man like you be doing at such a time?" the man asked, and suddenly, Harry found himself at loss of words.  
Was the man going to hit him? Or make him go back at his relatives from whom he had just escaped from?

Harry knew that the man was too big to run from, so he had only one choice.

"I am sorry, sir! I am very sorry for disturbing you, sir! Please, let me go!" Harry half cried, covering his head from any hits that might be coming.  
But all the old man did was look down at the boy, and then, still covering his head and eyes with his hands Harry felt how he was gently picked up.  
In a quiet, gentle voice, the old man asked Harry:  
"Did your parents teach you to be like that when you meet a stranger?" Slowly uncovering his head, Harry slowly nodded, tears falling from his eyes.  
Watari -So was the man's name- had seen quite a lot of children, found them from streets and empty houses, but as long as he remembered he had seen none like this boy. Agressive and ready to attack him, yes, but never one who would be barefoot in the rain, begging to let him go and frightened of the man. No, the children of streets were always ready to attack, rather than run away. So, Watari decided to do what was the most natural: search the cause. "Are you going somewhere?" The man asked, to which Harry slowly nodded. The next question followed: "Where are you going?"

 

Harry did not know. All he had thought was getting away, but where exactly? "I-I wanted to go away!" Watari was at loss of words. What had the boy meant by going away?  
"Do you want me to ride you home?" Harry's eyes widened at fear. "Home" was the place where Dursleys lived, right?

 

"No,"Harry whispered, shaking his head. "No, no, no, please, no, no..." If Watari had been a bit suspicious before, then now he was very concerned. Even more so as the boy began to cry.

 

"You do not want to go home?", he asked for confirming his thoughts. The boy in his hands started trying to get away, while sobbing . "No, no, no..."  
Watari decided to take the boy inside his car. After all, sooner or later, the boy would catch cold if they remained in the rain.

As Watari started walking towards his car, the boy in his hands stayed quiet. When Watari opened the door, he gently tried to put the boy on the front seat, touching his upper back in the progress.  
The moment he felt his most recent scar on the back being touched, Harry winced and let out a quiet cry, trying to get away from the old man.

Quietly, Watari bowed closer to the little boy and asked: "Did it hurt when I touched it?" To which Harry nodded, letting out a sob.  
This had to be serious. Watari was puzzled, what to do. The boy was clearly reluctant about going to his parents, but on the other hand, his parents would have been the ones who would have been able to help the boy.  
Yes, Watari thought to himself, as he walked over to the driver's seat. That would be the best solution.

As the old man started the car, he asked from now shivering and sobbing boy:  
"Where do you live?"

Harry knew the address- the Dursleys had made him learn it so that when he got lost- which was to never happen - he would know at least where he lives. And he had to tell the man the address, or else... Harry did not want to think about it.  
"P...Privat Drive... Four." Harry said quietly.  
He had no choice.  
He could not escape anymore.

Once they reached Privet Drive, Harry had fallen asleep. Watari stopped the car and, as he picked up the sleeping child, walked to the door and knocked.  
The door was opened by a big man in less than a minute. First thing he did when he noticed the people behind his door, was shouting "BOY!" and grabbing the now awake child by his hair. He was quickly calmed down by his wife who had followed him. Watari heard the woman whisper something to the man, who grunted and went upstairs with the boy.

Petunia smiled to the man in the doorway. "Thank you so much for finding him! We were all worried sick... Would you like a cup of tea?"  
Watari agreed, and as they walked to the kitchen, Petunia sighed. "He keeps running out... I forgot to lock the fence once, and he is gone! I cannot believe it... He keeps making up Horrifying stories about us, even though he is very loved in this family. I hope he did not disturb you."  
Watari smiled. "Not at all, he seemed to be rather terrified of something in this house, though. I happen to work with children a lot, maybe I could help you?" Something like anger appeared into the woman's eyes for a split second, followed by a sentence

 

"No, not at all, we can handle him fine." She finished with a small forced smile.  
As Watari finished his tea, he got up, preparing to leave.

"It is quite late now, but if you should ever need any help with him, my name is Quillsish Wammy. You should have no problem with finding Wammy's House in Winchester, it is not very far from here." Petunia smiled as a response, and with that Watari left the room.

As he was walking next to the stairs, he suddenly felt a slight pull from the bottom of his coat. Looking down, he noticed the boy.  
A little hand was holding from his coat, coming from the boy who was laying on the floor, his face on the floor, crawling from the small cupboard under the stairs.  
As Harry raised his head, Watari felt his chest tightening, as he saw a face covered in bruises and blood, one of boy's eyes was squeezed shut, and his other hand seemed to be twisted.  
Hastily, Watari reached down, but he was interrupted by a voice from behind his back:  
"What in the bloody hell are you doing?"  
A small sob was heard from Harry, as Watari turned his head to see uncle Vernon behind his back.

Watari got up, holding the boy in his arms. He respond with strong, a bit shivering voice:  
"I am taking this boy away. I had my own concerns from the moment we met, but now it is confirmed. You are very clearly abusing him," And with these words, he moved backwards, blocking sharply one of Vernon's fists coming towards him.  
Watari hissed: "I will report you to police, but first, I will ensure that the boy is not here until that happens. Your wife knows how to contact me." With these last words, he ran.  
\--  
Harry could barely open his eyes, as he felt Watari gently pick him up. Everything seemed to be just a blur, he could hear uncle Vernon shouting and his saviour saying something. He felt a sudden rush of cold air, and couldn't help but shiver. It was so cold, but Harry had no strength left in him. He felt that he was put on something soft, a lot softer than his cupboard was. For a brief moment, Harry felt that someone put their cold hand on his forehead. It felt so good, but after just a moment, it was gone.  
It was very cold, and Harry made an attempt to speak.  
But no sound escaped from his dry lips, as the car started driving. Barely awake, Harry could hear the old man talking.  
"Roger, I will be late, maybe I won't come home tonight. No, I just found a child. I am bringing him to the hospital. Yes. He was being abused by his parents, I know it should not really be our issue, but..."  
All Harry could hear after that was quiet muttering. As he tried to open one of his eyes, he saw lights flickering past him. Where were they going?  
The man had become quiet now.

"Sir," Harry said in quiet, cracking, hoarse voice. He saw the older man look at him with one eye. A concerned expression present and obvious on his face.  
"Hang in there," the man muttered, with slight hint of fear in his voice. "We will reach the hospital soon."  
Harry repeated, in a bit stronger voice. "Sir," His voice was almost impossible to hear. "May I-may I have some..." The boy had to take a moment to catch his breath before continuing "-water?" Harry ended his sentence and closed his eyes. How come just one sentence could exhaust him so much that it hurt?  
Watari sighed. "Hang in there, you can do it. Just wait a bit, it'll be alright. We are almost there."  
Harry let out a quiet sigh and closed his eyes. Without even noticing, he drifted into sleep.  
\--  
Harry was in the darkness for a long time. He felt gentle breezes around him, the sound of wind singing him lullabies, and the rain telling him stories.

Harry had always loved storms. Somehow, he could always feel the winds coming into his small and cramped cupboard and hear every raindrop falling. Wind's howling was the most beautiful music Harry had ever heard, and at nights like these Harry wanted to stay in his cramped cupboard, curled up into a ball with knees tightly against his chest, forever hearing the wind and rain cry in a beautiful symphony. One like that always made him feel calmer. Though now, here he was, surrounded by the darkness listening to wind howling and rain ticking.

This night, the howls seemed so much sadder than usual. They seemed almost to be someone's cries, and rain had weird feeling to it sometimes as if it was not raindrops that hit the ground, but someone's step, harsh and cold.  
These steps reminded him of Uncle Vernon, coming to beat him.  
\--  
Harry opened his eyes. He was in a very bright room. The sun was shining in from the window and he could see the white ceiling. Where was he A moment of peace was replaced with fear. Was this some kind of prank? Why was it so bright? In his cupboard, it should have been dark and cold, not bright and pleasantly warm.

Before Harry even realized it, tears were falling down his face. And suddenly, he heard a familiar voice.

"Harry?" A face of an old man appeared over him. "Don't cry, it's alright," he whispered, as Harry looked up to him. Even more tears rolled down his face, as he tried to speak. But Watari stopped him. "Don't," he said. "You still need to gain strength."

Closing his eyes for a moment, Harry attempted again. "How..." his cracking and hoarse voice filled the silent room. But Watari understood the question, all to well.

 

"Don't worry. They are not here anymore. Nobody will hurt you here." The words of the older man soothed Harry, as he turned his head a bit to look at the window. All he could see there was the blue sky, so beautiful, with nothing interrupting the loop of endless canvas. Harry liked that colour, it was such a rare beauty he got to see. He was always forced to look at the ground, not to look up, not to ask questions and not to speak up. Still, Harry wouldn't mind always try to look up towards the sky.

Looking out of the window, Harry slowly started to become sleepy. It was so pleasantly warm, and Harry wanted to sleep a bit more... As the boy drifted into sleep once again, Watari smiled to himself. The boy was safe now. Humming to himself, Watari left the room stopping at the door just for a moment to eye the sleeping child.

 

He was safe now, but Watari also wanted to ensure that he would be safe in the future.


	2. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again, HUGE thanks to my Beta-reader DreamyCloud1! We were so productive together, thinking of crack ideas("Watri puld out gun n seed "Haru eat ur vegtable" but Hary was like no gimme sweets") and her correcting my mistakes.

A few weeks ago, Watari would have never seen himself angrily knocking at the door of Albus Dumbledore's office, but here he was, doing his best to not just run into the office and shout at the old fool.  
No, instead of that he raised his hand once again to knock but only to be interrupted by the opening door and the sudden face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Quillsh, my dear friend! Please come -" The white-bearded man started, but he was cut off by the other.

"Albus, I am sorry, but I have no time for small-talk. Please answer me straight away. Did you leave Harry Ryuzaki Potter on the doorstep of Petunia Dursley and Vernon Dursley three years ago?"

 

The older man looked confused for a second, but then answered. "Yes, I did indeed. Why are you asking?"Just as Dumbledore began to finish his sentence, Quillsh asked once again.

"By any chance, did you ever take any measures to ensure that the boy would be safe with his-" he was searching for the right word, before spitting out venemously "-relatives?".

With a slight nod of his head Albus explained, "I did put wards around the house the night he was brought there. Why-" Albus was interrupted by Quillsh slamming his fist on the table.

 

"You FOOL! By any chance, did you even consider the possibility that he could be hurt by his RELATIVES? Or did you think that just wards around the house are enough, that only-" the younger hissed, "Only thing he needs to be protected from, is... is outside world?"  
Dumbledore remained calm.

"I left a letter explaining to them. I am quite sure that they will-"

"Well, maybe you were not RIGHT! Do you have ANY idea how I found the child? He was afraid of everything, bloody, shivering, barely eaten- he was almost dying! The only reason he was alive was because your wards kept him from dying!"

Dumbledore smiled and looked up. "That means," he began with a start "That I was right. He is alive, and that means that all is well,".

Watari hissed to the older man.  
"You fool. He was barely alive when I found him. He has been at the hospital for almost two weeks, and he still can barely walk. He spent the last bit of his strength trying to escape from his aunt and uncle. Now you go and you say IT IS ALRIGHT?" Watari paused for a bit. The silence had fallen over the room. Finally, Watari broke the silence. "The boy is coming to Wammy's. He has shown exceptional talent in puzzles. I will take it as my duty to take care of him, until he can grow up into healthy and happy man."

Dumbledore shook his head. "I cannot allow you that," He said in a bold tone. "Only if he lives where his mother's blood is, only then he can be truly protected. He was not alive because of my wards, he was alive because of his mother's blood," To which Watari, who looked like he was about to pull his hair out, replied to Albus.

 

"You cannot stop me. I will not let him go back there- even if it costs me my life. Besides, the prophecy is fulfilled! Neville Longbottom has defeated the Dark Lord- yet you keep Harry still protected! Why? You knew very well that I could have taken care of Harry, or perhaps the Weasleys, or maybe even Lupin! But no, you gave him somewhere where he was alive only thanks to feeble protection of blood."

Dumbledore sighed. "You know the prophecy- he must be defeated thrice. Both of the boys have done it once, even though most of the people only know of Longbottom. But sooner or later, one of them will kill him. And Harry must be protected by blood-" Watari interrupted with angry shout.

"And what if he would have lost it? What if he would have died? What would have happened then?,", Watari closed his eyes for a moment and whispered. "It is all about "greater good" again, isn't it? Greater Good- it has always been your weakness. But I will not let you sacrifice a child for a chance of Greater Good." The man opened his eyes. "I am taking him away." He stated as he turned his back to the older man and exited the room.

\--

Harry was sitting on his bed solving a few small puzzle on the bedside table. Watari had given it to him to pass time, but still, Harry couldn't wait until the old man visited him again. As he heard the door opening, Harry raised his head and smiled his first genuine smile in years as he saw it was Watari. The old man was smiling, too, a sort of sad smile one that had years of practice. It quickly morphed into one of happiness as he watched the young boy before him. "Harry," He started, as he walked next to the bed the boy was sitting on.

"Good night, sir!" Harry almost yelled, voice full of glee. As he looked up to the white-haired man, Harry asked. "Are you taking me away today?" He was answered with a warm smile and nod.

"I see you are already dressed," the older man said to him. "Do you want to leave right away?"

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed happily, as he stood up nodding his head and almost fell, but was caught by Watari.

"Careful there," he reminded the boy gently. "You still need to grow a bit stronger until you can run around, now where is your jacket?"  
Harry pointed at the chair next to the window.

"I found it!" he exclaimed, as Watari carried him over to the chair and put him down.  
The small boy started putting on the jacket, but he was clearly troubled, as his shaky hands got stuck in the sleeves. Watari bent down, muttering.

"Let me help you with that." He took the jacket from Harry, slowly helping both of his hands into the sleeves and closing the buttons in the front.

"T-thank you." Harry whispered, shocked from how gentle the old man had been. He was not used to such thing as being helped. For a split second it startled the boy.

As Harry sat down to tie his shoelaces, it was clear he could not do it alone. Watari tied the shoelaces neatly, as Harry watched, astonished.

Watari looked up and smiled. "I think we will need to get you shoes that do not require shoelaces," He wondered aloud as he stood up. "I think we are ready to go, you don't have anything else here, do you?"

 

"Wait," Harry got up and stumbled to the bedside table, where the puzzle was. "These too." He took the puzzle.

Watari smiled at the boy and asked. "Do you think you can walk to the car?" To which Harry gave a small nod. The older man walked forward to open the door, closing it only once Harry had reached the corridor. As soon they had reached the elevators, though, Harry stopped moving as he saw the metal doors. He stood there, paralyzed, simply just staring at the doors. "What's wrong?" Watari knelt next to him, face full of concern, and asked. All that came as a response for the older man was a quiet sob.

"I don't want to go in there," Harry whispered, voice quivering. "I don't want to go into dark." He shivered, despite there being no draft, as Watari gently picked him up.

"Don't worry," the older man whispered. "It'll be alright. Nobody can hurt you in there, I promise. I'll come with you." As they stepped into the elevator Harry buried his face into the old man's shoulder, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to pour out, but to no avail as the sobs cut the silence. Harry did not raise his head as he was placed on the seat of a black car in front of the hospital. Even there, he pressed his knees tightly against his chest, curling up in a ball.

As the car started moving, Harry felt his eyes beginning to close. The monotone sound of the engine was oddly calming, and even though Harry did not want to sleep yet, he could not resist.

No, he did not want to sleep. No matter what.  
Thought of sleeping scared Harry.  
Sometimes, when he was lucky, he had no dreams.  
But when he was not lucky, Harry had woken up, his face and pillow wet with tears, and his heart racing a million miles an hour.

Harry did not want to fall asleep, no matter what. Even if it meant that his eyes would ache or that he would be tired whole day after then, he did not want to risk meeting Dursleys in his dreams.  
But yet, he could not resist. Slowly, reluctantly, Harry felt his eyes droop low as the dark wrath of sleep pulled him under.'

\--

Harry was awakened by sounds of other people, sight of dim lights above, and feeling of someone carrying him.  
For a moment, he was confused, but then, his body stiffened in horror. Where were they going? Was he being brought back to Dursleys? Was he going to be beaten up again?

 

Fear filled Harry as he stared at the corridors, unable to move.  
Then he realized, he did not recognize these walls.

He couldn't decide to be more afraid of this unfamiliar place, or happy that it wasn't the Dursleys. What place was it? What was going on?  
It was quiet now, except for the quiet footsteps under him.

Suddenly, they made a turn and stopped in front of a door.  
Harry had not even noticed that there were doors seen every now and then.

The door opened to reveal a small, beautiful room.  
The walls were light blue, and on the opposite wall from the door, there was a window with ivory curtains on the edges. Under the window, there sat an ivory desk. Next to the desk, Harry saw a small, neat and tidy, clean bed that was covered by dark blue blankets and pillow, both of which had golden stars and planets scattered across them as decorations.  
On the opposite of the bed, there was a light brown wooden dresser and on top of that, a small shelf with a few books in it.

As Harry was placed on the bed, he saw his carrier.  
It was the same man who had brought him away from... there.  
"Are you awake?" Watari whispered, to which Harry nodded as best he could. In a voice that was a slight but louder, the older man asked Harry a question. "Do you want to go to sleep?" No reply came from Harry.

Watari turned his back to Harry for a moment to open the dresser and take out some neatly folded blue pajamas.  
As he came back to the bed holding the clothes he saw tears falling from Harry's face.  
Putting down the pajamas in his hands, Watari sat next to Harry and carefully put one of his arms around him. "Is there anything that concerns you?" He muttered softly to Harry, to which sobs mixed with words came out.

"I..." Harry lowered his voice so it could only barely be heard "I d-don't want..." More tears crossed his face. "..sleep." The final word came in a whisper, almost impossible to hear, quick and quiet.

Concern evident on his face Watari. "Can you tell me, why does it make you sad?".

A silence fell upon the room, but finally, Harry's quiet sob broke it.  
"They will come back," The boy whispered."When I dream.".

Slowly wrapping his other arm around Harry, Watari soothingly whispered back.  
"Hush now, I'll keep them away while you sleep, alright?".  
Harry nodded, closing his eyes as Watari gently hummed him a lullaby.  
Slowly, as the tunes of lullaby soothed him, Harry let himself go, into the darkness of sleep.  
For the first time in a while, he did not have any nightmares, nor was it complete emptiness.  
Harry slept peacefully, his eyes closed and his breath slow, quiet, and steady.


End file.
